We often take sleep for granted as part of our daily routine. What you may not know is that sleep is critical to our health. Sleep disorders affect the quality and quantity of a person’s sleep. Sleep disorders have short-term consequences like changes in mood, poor memory, and increased stress

. Long-term sleep disorders can have severe effects like high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes

If you struggle to get good-quality sleep, you aren’t alone.  Around 1 in 5 people have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

. If you have been considering talking to a doctor about your sleep, 

! You have taken the first step toward improving your sleep and your health.

What Kind of Sleep Clinician Do You Need?

Sleep disorders can have many different causes. Many types of clinicians can diagnose and treat sleep disorders.

Physicians with an MD or DO can complete training to specialize in sleep disorders. They may also be certified by the American Board of Sleep Medicine (ABSM). These sleep specialists will review your medical history and symptoms. They can order sleep studies and check for medical issues like apnea. These doctors are usually part of a sleep center.

Our mental health and attitudes can have a significant impact on our sleep. Psychologists and psychiatrists can help you address thoughts and behaviors that interfere with sleep. Use this 

 to see if sleep therapy is a good fit for 

. Psychiatrists can also prescribe medications to help.

Neurologists treat disorders of the brain and nervous system. Some conditions like Alzheimer’s disease or epilepsy can cause sleep problems. Neurologists can help manage sleep symptoms as part of their care.

Otorhinolaryngologists or ENT doctors treat problems in the ears, nose, and throat. These problems can result in sleep disorder symptoms like snoring or apnea.

There are many different healthcare professionals that can help diagnose and treat sleep disorders, so where do you start to find one for you?

The best place to start is to talk to your primary care physician. See what kind of sleep clinician they recommend for you. They can give you a referral to a trusted local specialist.

You may also want to check with your insurance provider to find a clinician. Many insurance companies have a directory of “in-network” providers. You can also call to get more information.

An internet search can help you find local doctors who specialize in sleep medicine. Use keywords like “sleep specialist,” “sleep disorders,” or “sleep center,” and your location. You can search for ABSM sleep centers 

. Get recommendations from your social media contacts, friends, and family.

You can use internet searches to find online services. Online services are an excellent way to access more providers and they often cost less than in-person services. Thes services are available from the comfort of your own home or anywhere and anytime you need them. Online services can include live video sessions, easy-to-use apps, and more. You can check out Dawn Health’s online sleep therapy program 

, the reported cost of sleep studies performed in a clinic can range from $500 to over $3,000. Home sleep tests are less expensive but range in cost from around $150 to over $600. These prices will vary depending on whether you are paying out of pocket or using insurance. Costs with insurance will depend on your copays, deductibles, and "in-network" providers. Where you live can also affect the price.  Many patients will need to pay for a consult with their sleep doctor before a sleep test and to go over the results after the test. These consults usually range in price from about $150 to $300 or the specialist co-pay cost through your insurance.

Unlike sleep tests, sleep therapy is not a diagnostic test and is not always covered by insurance. Sleep therapy can be used as an alternative to medication, or alongside medication, for treating insomnia. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)  is the preferred treatment recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM)

.  The average cost for CBT-I is around $450, but one significant advantage of sleep therapy is the option to use an online service. In fact, online services, like 

, are significantly more affordable than in-person sessions.

Preparing for Your Sleep Specialist Visit

Before you visit a sleep specialist, you will want to track your sleep symptoms. Try keeping a journal or record for a few weeks, recording what you are experiencing. Take this with you to your appointment, so you don’t forget the essential details. You will also want to prepare any questions you have for the clinician. Some questions you may want to ask are:

If so, is a home sleep test enough, or will I need to go into a lab for a sleep study?

If I don’t need a sleep study, what are my options?

Can lifestyle changes, medication, or therapy help?

Could sleep therapy be the right solution for you? Use this quick 

Chung, K. F., Yeung, W. F., Ho, F. Y. Y., Yung, K. P., Yu, Y. M., & Kwok, C. W. (2015). Cross-cultural and comparative epidemiology of insomnia: the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD). 

(4), 477–482. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SLEEP.2014.10.018 (https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SLEEP.2014.10.018)

Medic, G., Wille, M., & Hemels, M. E. (2017). Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption. 

, 151–161. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S134864

Schutte-Rodin, S., Broch, L., Buysse, D., Dorsey, C., & Sateia, M. (2008). Clinical guideline for the evaluation and management of chronic insomnia in adults. 

Finding a Sleep Doctor in Your Location | How to Find a Sleep Doctor? | Dawn Health

Finding a Sleep Doctor in Your Location

Is yours the type of family for whom sleep is an ISSUE – with capital letters? When you wake up in the morning, do you discuss your sleep – how you struggled to fall asleep, how many times a night you woke up, how you lay awake for hours, and how this lack of sleep is probably going to wreck your day?

If sleep is an issue in your family, then there is probably a genetic component to your insomnia. Sleep scientists divide factors contributing to insomnia into three categories (

predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating

), based on the 3P model of the famous sleep researcher Dr Arthur Spielman. While there has been considerable research on precipitating and perpetuating factors, predisposing factors have received less scientific attention.

Researchers have found that genes are amongst the most significant predisposing factors for insomnia.

 Heritability accounts for between 28% and 57% of a person’s likelihood of experiencing insomnia.

 Consequently, sleep disorders run in families.

Because insomnia is related to a multitude of 

negative mental, physical, and occupational health outcomes

, you have reason to be concerned if your family has a history of insomnia and you have difficulty falling asleep, initiating sleep or maintaining sleep. If you experience non-restorative sleep at least three times a week for a minimum of ninety days and this causes you significant distress,

 it’s worth exploring the role your genetic predisposition has as a contributing factor to your insomnia.

Insomniac Genes Do Not Make You an Insomniac

The good news is that insomniac genes do not automatically condemn you to a life of sleeplessness. Circumstances can switch your insomniac genes on, or not. You may have the same genes as your sleepless sister, for example, but they may express differently in you than they do in her because your circumstances or your attitude is different from hers. Her environment might trigger her insomniac genes while yours does not.

The Difference Between Genes and Gene Expression

It is important to understand the difference between genes and gene expression. Genes are embedded in your chromosomes and consist of DNA, which carries instructions for protein and RNA synthesis in your body. Gene expression determines if the encoded instructions are carried out, or not; in other words, whether the gene is switched on, or not.

Lifestyle, stress and other external factors play a role in switching on the genes associated with insomnia. While there’s not much you can do about your genetic heritage, you can actively adjust your lifestyle and moderate your stress levels to mitigate your genetic predisposition. Cognitive behavioral therapy, for example, can affect gene expression. A study done in 2015, found that CBT-I reduced expression of genes encoding pro-inflammatory mediators associated with sleep disturbance.

Is Genetic Testing for Insomnia an Option?

 capable of identifying genes associated with sleep disorders. Our scientific understanding of the genetics of insomnia is progressing despite limitations, and scientists have identified several potential molecular mechanisms for the development of the disorder. However,  we have a long way to go to gain a full understanding of the genes that can potentially keep us awake at night.

The best option at the moment for an insomnia diagnosis is a tried and tested questionnaire, called the ICSD-3 (International Classification of Sleep Disorders –Third Edition), which doctors use to diagnose sleep disorders. This diagnostic tool is the industry standard.

 If your family history suggests you may have genes that predispose you to insomnia and you’ve been battling your sleep for three months, it is useful to consult your doctor about the ICSD test.

Alternatively, our Dawn Health insomnia questionnaire is based on the ICSD, so a valuable first step would be to fill in our 

 if you suspect you’re suffering from insomnia.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia

Dawn uses CBT-I, an evidence-based approach that treats insomnia by identifying and changing habits and thinking patterns that prevent you from falling asleep. We’ve known since 2013 that cognitive behavioral therapy affects gene expression in individuals suffering from PTSD.

 A recent meta-analysis, published in January 2022, indicated that CBT was associated with significant epigenetic effects, mainly in anxiety disorders.

Insomnia may lie in your genes but it does not define you. The expression of the genes that predispose you to insomnia is influenced by your environment, which means you have control over that expressivity to some degree. It is this window of epigenetic influence that deserves the focus of all families who turn conversations at the breakfast table into retrospective sleep studies.


Lind, M.J., Gehrman P.R. (2016) Genetic Pathways to Insomnia. Brain Sciences. 6(4), 64. 

Juan J. Madrid-Valero, María Rubio-Aparicio, Alice M. Gregory, Julio Sánchez-Meca, Juan R. Ordoñana, The heritability of insomnia: Systematic review and meta-analysis of twin studies, Sleep Medicine Reviews, Volume 58, 2021. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101437

Finegold, D. N. (2021). Factors affecting gene expression. Merck Manual Professional Version. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from 

https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/special-subjects/general-principles-of-medical-genetics/factors-affecting-gene-expression

Irwin, M.R. et al. (2015) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Tai Chi Reverse Cellular and Genomic Markers of Inflammation in Late-Life Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Biological Psychiatry, 78 (10), 721-729. 

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Sateia, M.J. (2014) International Classification of Sleep Disorders –Third Edition. Contemporary Reviews in Sleep Medicine, 146 (5), 1387 -1394. 

Levy-Gigi, E. (2013) Association among clinical response, hippocampal volume, and FKBP5 gene expression in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder receiving cognitive behavioral therapy. Biol. Psychiatry 4(11), 793-800. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.05.017

Pellicano G.R et al. (2022) Epigenetic correlates of the psychological interventions outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 7, 100310. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2022.100310

Does insomnia run in the family? Genes are amongst the most significant predisposing factors for insomnia. 

Can You Inherit Insomnia? What is the Genetic Component of Sleeplessness? | Dawn Health

Can You Inherit Insomnia? What is the Genetic Component of Sleeplessness?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 

 suffer from chronic sleep problems.1 Although quetiapine is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for insomnia, doctors have been increasingly prescribing this drug to help with sleeping problems in recent years.

Quetiapine is an antipsychotic medication approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

 Drowsiness is a very common side effect of the drug, leading many to try it as a sleep aid.

Similar to first-generation antihistamines, like 

 (Benadryl, ZZZQuil), quetiapine blocks histamine (H1) receptors in the brain which blocks histamine’s effect on wakefulness, triggering your brain to transition into sleep mode. This may explain why it makes you sleepy.

More than 10% of people taking quetiapine experience drowsiness as a side effect.

 This side effect makes quetiapine an attractive medication to try as a sleep aid.

Your doctor will likely prescribe a low dose of quetiapine to start with, around 25 mg, but may increase the dose from there.

 This is much lower than the recommended dose for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, which is between 150 mg to 800 mg per day.

You should not drink while taking quetiapine. Quetiapine can increase the effect alcohol has on you and alcohol can worsen the side effects of quetiapine.

 Additionally, alcohol can worsen your quality of sleep.

 If you plan to continue drinking while taking quetiapine, talk to your doctor.

Quetiapine may cause side effects.2 The most common include:

Some of quetiapine's side effects may be more serious. Talk to your doctor if you experience thoughts of suicide, new or worsening depression, anxiety, irritation, or other unusual changes in your mood.

It is very common for people taking quetiapine to gain weight. Many studies show that people taking quetiapine at any dose, even the low doses used for sleep problems, 

 The weight gain usually takes place in the 

 Even if you only use quetiapine for a short time, you may still experience weight gain.

Weight gain is probably due to the fact that quetiapine increases the amount of sugar in your blood, even if you do not have diabetes. Quetiapine can also increase the fat levels in your blood (cholesterol and triglycerides).

 You should monitor your weight and talk to your doctor about ways to control weight gain like exercise and eating healthy.

, a disorder that causes your breathing to stop or get very shallow during sleep, is strongly associated with obesity.10 Because quetiapine can cause weight gain even at low doses for a short time, research shows that quetiapine could 

Quetiapine Lacks Evidence for Use as a Sleep Aid

Quetiapine is not currently approved as a sleep aid and the 

 does not recommend Seroquel for insomnia.

 Even though some clinical trials have shown 

 in people with bipolar disorder, the effect on sleep alone has only been shown in a 

 Experts also don’t yet fully understand the 

Why CBT-I Might Be a Better Alternative Than Taking Quetiapine

Quetiapine is widely prescribed off-label as a sleep aid, but it is often only used as a short-term solution. Over time, your body may build up a tolerance to the drowsy effect of quetiapine and you may need a higher dose to get the same effect. Additionally, many of the side effects get worse with higher doses.

 is a clinically proven and evidence-based method for treating sleep disorders.

 It can help you reframe your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to improve sleep. CBT-I may have a better balance of potential benefits to risks than medications like quetiapine. Because of this, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends CBT-I as the first-line treatment for insomnia. This means that it is the first treatment that should be tried for people with sleeping problems.

Interested in learning more about CBT-I? Dawn Health provides a comprehensive CBT-I program that can be accessed through an easy-to-use smartphone app. Get started with a 

 to help us better understand where you’re at on your journey to better sleep.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017, June). Sleep and Sleep Disorders. 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2009, November). Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) Tablets: Highlights of Prescribing Information. 

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2009/020639s045s046lbl.pdf

MedlinePlus. (2022, June 15). Doxylamine. 

https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682537.html

MedlinePlus. (2022, June 15). Diphenhydramine. 

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Reiner, P., Kamondi, A. (1994). Mechanisms of antihistamine-induced sedation in the human brain: H1 receptor activation reduces a background leakages potassium current. Neuroscience. 59(3):579-88. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(94)90178-3

Coe, H., Hong, I. (2012). Safety of low doses of quetiapine when used for insomnia. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 46(5):718-22. doi: 10.1345/aph.1Q697

Roehrs, T., & Roth, T. Sleep, Sleepiness, and Alcohol Use. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-2/101-109.htm

Cates, M., Jackson, C., Feldman, J., Stimmel, A., Wooley, T. (2009). Metabolic consequences of using low-dose quetiapine for insomnia in psychiatric patients. Community Mental Health Journal, 45(4):251-4. doi: 10.1007/s10597-009-9200-0

Brecher, M., Leong, R., Stening, G., Osterling-Koskinen, L., Jones, A. (2007). Quetiapine and long-term weight change: a comprehensive data review of patients with schizophrenia. Journal of Clincial Psychiatry, 68(4):597-603. doi: 10.4088/jcp.v68n0416

MedlinePlus. (2022, June 15). Sleep Apnea. 

Freudenmann, R., Sussmuth, S., Wolf, R., Stiller, P., Schonfelt-Lecuona, C. (2008). Respiratory dysfunction in sleep apnea associated with quetiapine. Pharmacopsychiatry, ;41(3):119-21. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1058111

Sateia, M., Buysse, D., Krystal, A., Neubauer, D., Heald, J. (2017). Clinical Practice Guideline for the Pharmacologic Treatment of Chronic Insomnia in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 

Calabrese, A., Keck, P., Macfadden, W., Minkwitz, M., Ketter, T., Weisler, R., Cutler, A., McCoy, R., Wilson, E., Mullen, J. (2005). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of quetiapine in the treatment of bipolar I or II depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.7.1351

Tassniyom, K., Paholpak, S., Tassniyom, S., Kiewyoo, J. Quetiapine for primary insomnia: a double blind, randomized controlled trial. J Med Assoc Thai; 2010;936:729-734, 

Anderson, S., Vande Gried, J. Quetiapine for insomnia: a review of the literature. (2014). American Journal of Health-system Pharmacy, 71, (5), 394–402 

Thompson, W., Quay, T., Rojas-Fernandez, C., Farrell, B., Bjerre, l. (2016). Atypical antipsychotics for insomnia: a review. Sleep Medicine, 22,13-17.

Edinger, J. D., Arnedt, J. T., Bertisch, S. M., Carney, C. E., Harrington, J. J., Lichstein, K. L., Sateia, M. J., Troxel, W. M., Zhou, E. S., Kazmi, U., Heald, J. L., & Martin, J. L. (2021). Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of clinical sleep medicine, 17(2), 255–262. 

Quetiapine (Seroquel) is an antipsychotic medication. Drowsiness is a common side effect of the drug, leading many to try it as a sleep aid.

Quetiapine (Seroquel) as a Sleep Aid | Dawn Health

Quetiapine (Seroquel) as a Sleep Aid

Many people who suffer from insomnia are interested in trying medications to help them sleep better. Although antidepressants aren’t officially approved as a sleep aid, they are often prescribed for this purpose. Trazodone is the 

Trazodone, also available under the brand names Desyrel, Desyrel Dividose, Oleptro, and Trittico, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat major depressive disorder. Doctors sometimes also recommend this drug as a treatment for other conditions such as anxiety, substance abuse, schizophrenia, or fibromyalgia.

 Because tiredness/sedation is a side effect of trazodone, it is also used as an insomnia treatment.

Why Is Trazodone Prescribed as a Sleep Medication?

Trazodone is a popular sleep aid because it may work better and be less addictive compared to other sleep-inducing drugs.

Benzodiazepines have been used since the 1960s to help treat insomnia. However, these medications may not be a good long-term choice because they can cause dependence and tolerance. Tolerance occurs when a drug doesn’t work as well over time, requiring you to take more for the same effect. Dependence occurs when you feel like they have to keep taking the drugs to feel “normal”  and may experience withdrawal symptoms if you try to stop using them.

After some of the negative effects of benzodiazepines started to become clear, doctors began looking to other drugs to help treat insomnia. Between 1987 and 1996, doctors prescribed 50% fewer benzodiazepine medications and 

Trazodone is not classified by the FDA as a controlled substance — it’s not very likely to lead to abuse or dependence, unlike some other types of sleep medications.

 However, there is a chance that it may cause mild withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking it, including dizziness, nausea, headaches, and sleeping problems.

Despite its increased use, trazodone typically has limited benefits. Research shows that trazodone may slightly increase how much time you spend asleep; however, 

. For example, the original clinical trial studying the effects of trazodone on sleep found that:

The drug helped people fall asleep 10 minutes more quickly at the beginning of the night.

People who took trazodone slept for only 22 minutes longer per night, on average.

Those who took trazodone did not rate their sleep quality as being any better.

These effects are small enough that experts don’t expect trazodone to make much of a difference for people who struggle to get enough rest. For this reason, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 

Trazodone has also not been approved by the FDA as a sleep aid.

 However, doctors may still prescribe this medication for people with insomnia if they believe that it may help.

Trazodone tablets come in a few different dosages: 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg, or 300 mg. For people with depression, doctors usually recommend taking between 75 mg and 150 mg, and gradually increasing the dose over time if needed. Older adults typically use a lower dosage of trazodone.

People with insomnia usually also take a lower trazodone dose — often 

 If you are taking trazodone, make sure to follow the directions that your doctor gives you. Don’t increase your dose or stop taking trazodone without first talking to your healthcare provider.

It is a good idea to avoid drinking alcohol while you are taking trazodone. If you plan to continue drinking while taking trazodone, talk to your doctor first.

It is important to know that if you take trazodone and alcohol together, an overdose can be fatal.8 Additionally, trazodone can boost the effects of alcohol — you may feel more drunk than usual, or experience higher levels of dizziness, confusion, or impaired judgment.

Alcohol also worsens some of the conditions that trazodone is meant to treat. Alcohol use can cause depression and anxiety or make existing mental health problems worse.

 In addition, alcohol can lead to worse quality sleep, especially in the second half of the night.

Like other antidepressants, trazodone may cause side effects. While taking this drug, you may notice:

Low sex drive or decreases in sexual function

Some trazodone side effects may be more serious. Tell your doctor right away if you notice chest pain, irregular heartbeats, fever, breathing problems, fainting, or seizures.

Trazodone may not be a good choice for people with liver or kidney problems. It also shouldn’t be mixed with certain medications, including other antidepressants like monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors or tricyclic antidepressants.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends that all people with insomnia be treated with 

cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)

 In their guidelines, AASM says that CBT-I has a better balance of potential benefits and risks compared to sleep medications. This treatment is also proven to be more effective than other common sleep treatments such as 

CBT-I helps you reframe your thinking and behaviors surrounding sleep. While undergoing CBT-I treatment, you may learn more about sleep and your brain, lessen feelings of worry or frustration surrounding sleep and get support in changing your sleep habits.

Dawn Health provides a comprehensive CBT-I program that can be accessed through an easy-to-use smartphone app. To discover whether CBT-I may be a good fit for you, fill out our 

Everitt, H., Baldwin, D. S., Stuart, B., Lipinska, G., Mayers, A., Malizia, A. L., Manson, C. C., & Wilson, S. (2018). Antidepressants for insomnia in adults. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 5(5), CD010753. 

https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010753.pub2

https://www.drugs.com/international/trazodone.html 

Shin, J.J., Saadabadi, A. (2022, May 2). Trazodone. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470560/


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Sateia, M. J., Buysse, D. J., Krystal, A. D., Neubauer, D. N., & Heald, J. L. (2017). Clinical Practice Guideline for the Pharmacologic Treatment of Chronic Insomnia in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline. Journal of clinical sleep medicine, 13(2), 307–349. 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2010, January 20). Oleptro: Highlights of Prescribing Information. 

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Rush, C. R., Baker, R. W., & Wright, K. (1999). Acute behavioral effects and abuse potential of trazodone, zolpidem and triazolam in humans. Psychopharmacology, 144(3), 220–233. 

University of Michigan Health. (2020, April 22). Trazodone. 

https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/d00395a1

Boden, J. M., & Fergusson, D. M. (2011). Alcohol and depression. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 106(5), 906–914. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03351.x

Anker, J. J., & Kushner, M. G. (2019). Co-Occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Anxiety: Bridging Psychiatric, Psychological, and Neurobiological Perspectives. Alcohol research : current reviews, 40(1), arcr.v40.1.03. 

Trazodone may be prescribed to you for insomnia. Learn about how it works and possible side effects.

Trazodone for Insomnia: How It Works & Side Effects | Dawn Health

Trazodone for Insomnia: How It Works & Side Effects

Are you mono, bi, or poly? No, we’re not talking about your love life. We’re talking about your sleep patterns — how often you wake at night and nap during the day, and whether you are a monophasic, biphasic or a polyphasic sleeper. And, even more importantly, how do you perceive your 

? Are you a merry midnight waker, or do bouts of sleeplessness in the early morning make you feel anxious and tense?

If you are the type of person who puts down your head at ten and wakes up at six with no recollection of waking up in-between, you’re definitely a monophasic sleeper — the scientific term for people who get eight hours of solid shut-eye every night without major awakenings.

However, if you are someone who gets up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack, a cup of tea, or even a quiet (or not-so-quiet) early-hours chat with your roommates before settling in for the second stretch, you’re a biphasic sleeper. You probably sleep in two long stretches, broken by a period of wakefulness every night. You’re also biphasic if you like taking an afternoon nap or siesta and spend shorter intervals in your bed at night. In countries like Spain, for example, it is tradition to siesta for one to one and a half hours and then sleep again for five to six hours at night.

Polyphasic sleepers, on the other hand, take segmentation to the next level. They sleep more than twice a day. They may put in a pre-midnight snooze, walk around the house between twelve and two, settle in for another stretch and take short siestas to rest their brains and bodies during the day. Interestingly, we all start out as polyphasic sleepers when we’re born.

Both biphasic and polyphasic sleep are what experts called segmented sleep. Segmented sleep is any type of sleep pattern that involves sleeping in chunks or segments.

Segmented sleep is not necessarily a problem but it becomes one if you believe it to be so. The mantra that a solid, unbroken, eight-hour stretch of sleep is the gold standard is one of the most common and erroneous sleep perceptions that troubles people who experience sleep problems.Thousands of people who wake up in the middle of the night experience great anxiety because they believe their wakefulness is unnatural and unhealthy. This anxiety, more than the awakening itself, can interfere with healthy sleep patterns;worrying puts your brain in a state of hyperarousal, which interferes with your natural sleep drive .

However, research indicates that waking up during the night is often perfectly normal – a throwback to our pre-industrial past. Sleep researcher Roger Ehkirch points out that people in the pre-industrial era habitually slept in segments.

 His research, based on diaries, documents, books and medical literature, deduces that biphasic sleep occurred across the globe in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Latin America.

In other words, in the pre-industrialized world our ancestors slept in shifts and thought nothing of it. Biphasic sleep – historically dubbed the “first” and the “second” sleep – were perfectly normal. It is likely that artificial illumination, along with work and school schedules, started extending active hours and shifting when, and how, sleep cycles occurred.

Ehkirch says the consolidated sleep to which the industrialized world aspires is for Western societies “a remarkably youthful form of sleep, a product not of the primeval past but of forces grounded in technology (artificial illumination) and shifting cultural attitudes toward sleep over the course of the Industrial Revolution.”

Sleep patterns are not a one-size-fits all affair. Sleep is not a passive state. You sleep in stages , which range from very light sleep to deep sleep. And different people have different sleep cycles, depending on factors such as their circadian rhythm .

Segmented sleep can be unhealthy if all your sleep segments in a 24-hour period do not add up to the total number of hours of sleep you need to function properly. But for different people this figure is different. There is no hard-and fast rule. Some people are genetically inclined to need less sleep.

A 2021 survey done in India even found that medical students performed better academically if they slept segmentally rather than monophasically and that segmental sleepers did not suffer from daytime sleepiness as much as monophasic sleepers did.

Learn about segmented sleep and the difference between biphasic, polyphasic & monophasic sleep